Gorillas and Gold Watch Chains and Ebony Combs

 "We are tempted at every turn to give in to things that aren't good for us.  Numerous tangible things and acts run through our minds to delight and lure us away from our good intentions, but none as powerful as that first thought, that subtle invitation to give in.  It is always the first step, the first word, the first taste that leads us like the pipes of Pan."  Seattle (the Duwamish Indian chief of Western Washington state, not the city.  The city isn't saying anything audible).  (Ed. Note:  I do not know what the pipes of Pan have to do with this quip as that is from an ancient Greek or maybe Roman allegory.  Seattle and Pan in one quote, it's too much, man.)

I find that when I start a behavior that I don't much care for then I'm off to the races.  One coffee leads to three and a couple of Oreos leads to an empty Oreos bag.  Here's an alcoholic counting to a hundred: "One, two, three, one hundred."  It goes that fast.  Seattle was reminding us allegorically not to pick up that first drink.  Wisdom is wisdom.  A.A. wisdom is wisdom gleaned from dozens of sources that have been around for a long time.

And here's a 19th century counterpart to the saying that warns us to be careful what we wish for because we might get it from the writer O. Henry, although this one has a sweet turn of events.  An impoverished young married couple was getting ready to celebrate their first Christmas together.  The only valuable thing they owned was a gold watch that the husband's father had passed along from his father, but it was without a chain so that he carried it around with a piece of string to secure it to his belt.  And the woman had beautiful, glorious red hair that was a source of pride for both of them.  Contemplating her meager savings and full of love for her husband she went to a wigmaker and sold her hair for enough money to buy a gold watch chain.  The man came home, took one look at her, and said: "You cut off your hair."  When she gave him the chain he looked at it bemusedly and handed over her Christmas gift.  A set of ornate ebony combs to wear in her glorious hair.

SuperK and I were taking a walk when we ran into a guy I briefly sponsored who has since moved on to other meetings.  I had turned to SuperK to try to explain the exact specifics of whatever shit I had recently given him when she saw him nudge his wife and say: "This is the guy."  If I love you I'm going to bust your chops.

Gorillas have no known predators.  They aren't afraid of being attacked by anything.  They're so confident they just sleep on the ground.  But they are afraid of caterpillars and some small reptiles like chameleons.  Go figure.